global abuse of cyber-surveillance weapon

[Cnut237]

Has everyone been reading about the Pegasus spyware leak? Apparently some of the world's most authoritarian regimes have been using the software to target human rights activists, journalists and lawyers... 50,000 phone numbers in total. What do people think? Other than, sadly, it being hardly surprising... expect further detail to emerge over the coming days and weeks. Quotes and image are from the link below.

Revealed: leak uncovers global abuse of cyber-surveillance weapon

What is the Pegasus project?

The Pegasus project is a collaborative journalistic investigation into the NSO Group and its clients. The company sells surveillance technology to governments worldwide. Its flagship product is Pegasus, spying software – or spyware – that targets iPhones and Android devices. Once a phone is infected, a Pegasus operator can secretly extract chats, photos, emails and location data, or activate microphones and cameras without a user knowing.

Forbidden Stories, a Paris-based nonprofit journalism organisation, and Amnesty International had access to a leak of more than 50,000 phone numbers selected as targets by clients of NSO since 2016. Access to the data was then shared with the Guardian and 16 other news organisations, including the Washington Post, Le Monde, Die Zeit and Süddeutsche Zeitung. More than 80 journalists have worked collaboratively over several months on the investigation, which was coordinated by Forbidden Stories.

Which NSO clients were selecting numbers?

While the data is organised into clusters, indicative of individual NSO clients, it does not say which NSO client was responsible for selecting any given number. NSO claims to sell its tools to 60 clients in 40 countries, but refuses to identify them. By closely examining the pattern of targeting by individual clients in the leaked data, media partners were able to identify 10 governments believed to be responsible for selecting the targets: Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Hungary, India, and the United Arab Emirates. Citizen Lab has also found evidence of all 10 being clients of NSO.

The phone number of a freelance Mexican reporter, Cecilio Pineda Birto, was found in the list, apparently of interest to a Mexican client in the weeks leading up to his murder, when his killers were able to locate him at a carwash. His phone has never been found so no forensic analysis has been possible to establish whether it was infected.

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[OgNasty]

If there is one issue that Democrats and Republicans the world over agree on without argument, it’s that surveillance of their citizens is necessary. Funny how that works. When it comes to not respecting your privacy and thinking they are needed to keep us alive, politicians on both sides of the aisle agree that they need access to all your info and you should be thankful for their willingness to do so.

[Cnut237]

If there is one issue that Democrats and Republicans the world over agree on without argument, it’s that surveillance of their citizens is necessary. Funny how that works. When it comes to not respecting your privacy and thinking they are needed to keep us alive, politicians on both sides of the aisle agree that they need access to all your info and you should be thankful for their willingness to do so.

Yes, that does seem to be the general principle.

But in this instance it's a lot more specific, a lot more targeted. There is uproar in India now following further Pegasus revelations. Modi has been accused of treason as - surprise surprise - the phone number of opposition leader Rahul Gandhi is on the surveillance list. Actually two of his phone numbers, along with the numbers of at least five of his close friends...

[OgNasty]

If there is one issue that Democrats and Republicans the world over agree on without argument, it’s that surveillance of their citizens is necessary. Funny how that works. When it comes to not respecting your privacy and thinking they are needed to keep us alive, politicians on both sides of the aisle agree that they need access to all your info and you should be thankful for their willingness to do so.

Yes, that does seem to be the general principle.

But in this instance it's a lot more specific, a lot more targeted. There is uproar in India now following further Pegasus revelations. Modi has been accused of treason as - surprise surprise - the phone number of opposition leader Rahul Gandhi is on the surveillance list. Actually two of his phone numbers, along with the numbers of at least five of his close friends...

My understanding is that it not only lists phone numbers, but those with access to the system are able to pull up any communications with the identified individual, every person they have come into contact with and every person those people have come into contact with.  All of this is stored permanently in data storage facilities and available for browsing by hundreds of thousands of people working with the right clearance.  Every phone conversation, every email, every selfie, etc...  It sounds like conspiracy stuff to most people, but this has been happening for 15 years now. 

[Cnut237]

My understanding is that it not only lists phone numbers, but those with access to the system are able to pull up any communications with the identified individual, every person they have come into contact with and every person those people have come into contact with.  All of this is stored permanently in data storage facilities and available for browsing by hundreds of thousands of people working with the right clearance.  Every phone conversation, every email, every selfie, etc...  It sounds like conspiracy stuff to most people, but this has been happening for 15 years now. 

Yes, that's right. The list of phone numbers is important because this details exactly who has been flagged by NSO's customers as a 'person of interest' for surveillance. NSO are claiming that being on the list does not mean that any surveillance was actually carried out, but I'd be surprised if anyone actually believed them on that. Forensic investigation by Amnesty has found evidence of Pegasus spyware on the majority of phones they tested. And we don't just have evidence of who is being surveilled, we also have evidence in each case of who wanted them surveilled. Current high profile targets include:

Imran Khan, the prime minister of Pakistan, targeted by India in 2019.
French president, Emmanuel Macron, targeted by Morocco in 2019.
South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, targeted by Rwanda in 2019.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the WHO, targeted by Morocco in 2019.
Saad Hariri, until recently the Lebanese prime minister, targeted by the UAE in 2018 and 2019.
Felipe Calderón, former president of Mexico, targeted by a Mexican client in 2016 and 2017 when his wife was running for office.
_source

Khan (particularly because it's India who targeted him) and Macron are the big names so far... but more keep coming. NSO are claiming that Macron was never targeted... however Pegasus spyware has been identified on the phone of one of his ministers.